The West Indian skipper Hayley Matthews led from the front with a blazing match-defining knock (85* off 47 balls) to power her side to a series-levelling victory by 9 wickets. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational knock for her side.
India’s regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur continued to be on the sidelines, recovering from her knee niggle in the 3rd T20I, the series decider. It also meant Smriti Mandhana, her deputy, continued with the leadership duties in her absence. While the home side continued with the unchanged playing 11 for the decider, West Indies made a change, bringing in Aaliyah Alleyne for Ashmini Munisar.
Richa Ghosh and Smriti Mandhana power India to their record-highest total in the format
India lost the wicket of Uma Chetry in the first over of the innings after the West Indian skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and inserted the home side to bat first. Chenille Henry provided the first breakthrough for the West Indies. Jemimah Rodrigues joined the stand-in Indian skipper Smriti Mandhana at the crease and the pair took the attack to the opposition with a breezy 98-run partnership.
Skipper Smriti Mandhana completed a hattrick of half-centuries in the series off just 27 balls, en route to their 2nd wicket partnership, her 30th half-century in the format. The partnership set a solid platform for a massive total in the series decider. Afy Fletcher picked up the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues (39 off 28 balls) to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Mandhana continued to take the aggressor route when she was joined by Raghvi Bist at the crease. Deandra Dottin ended skipper Smriti Mandhana’s (77 off 47 balls) stay at the crease to provide the much-needed breakthrough for the West Indies. India eventually ended up with their highest-ever total in the T20I format, surpassing their previous highest 201/5 against the United Arab Emirates at Dambulla on 21st July 2024 in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup, earlier this year.
Wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh’s (54 off 21 balls) whirlwind record-equalling fastest half-century in a Women’s T20I off just 18 balls, only behind Sophie Devine from New Zealand and Phoebe Litchfield from Australia, who did it earlier with the same number of balls. Raghvi Bist stayed unbeaten on 31* off 21 balls which would give her a lot of confidence going forward.
Skipper Hayley Matthews (4-0-34-0) was impressive with the ball in a run-fest. Chenille Henry (2-0-14-1), Afy Fletcher (3-0-24-1), Aaliyah Alleyne (4-0-45-1), and Deandra Dottin (4-0-54-1) picked up one wicket each with the ball for the West Indies.
West Indies crumbled under pressure and fell short despite Chinelle Henry’s late blitz
The West Indies batters tried their best to go on an all-out attack approach, but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals as they couldn’t sustain that approach for long enough to keep them ahead in the run chase.
The 37-run 2nd wicket partnership between Denadra Dottin (25 off 17 balls) and skipper Hayley Matthews (22 off 17 balls), the 34-run 4th wicket partnership between Chinelle Henry and wicket-keeper batter Shemaine Campbelle (17 off 11 balls), and a 33-run 5th wicket stand between Nerissa Crafton and Chinelle Henry (43 off 16 balls) kept the hopes of the visitors alive in the run chase.
However, West Indies were eventually restricted to 157/9 in their quota of overs, as a result, falling 60 runs short of the target to clinch the game and the T20I series. Radha Yadav (4-0-29-4), Renuka Singh (3-0-16-1), Deepti Sharma (4-0-31-1), Saima Thakor (4-0-33-0), and Sajeevan Sajana (2-0-16-1) were the star performers with the ball for India.
Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (54 off 21 balls) was awarded the Player of the Match and Smriti Mandhana was awarded the Player of the Series for scoring 193 runs, including a hattrick of half-centuries with the bat for her side, playing a crucial role in India’s first home series victory in the T20I format after 5 years.
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